Not much is known about the protagonist of Ubisoft's upcoming Far Cry 6. Like many past Far Cry games, much of the marketing material has focused on the title's new villain, Yara's dictator Anton Castillo.
What has been revealed about Far Cry 6's protagonist, however, may be good news for fans of the franchise. Information revealed so far suggests that the new protagonist may be quite different to the player characters found in the last two games: Far Cry 5 and its direct sequel Far Cry New Dawn.
Who Is Dani Rojas?
Dani Rojas will be Far Cry 6's player character, but with the trailers focusing on Anton Castillo and his heir Diego, fans have received little specific information about the character so far. It is already notable that, unlike the last two Far Cry protagonists, this one has a name.
In Far Cry 5, the player character was the Hope County Sheriff's Department's new Junior Deputy. While past protagonists like Jason Brody and Ajay Ghale had their own voice actors and would speak throughout the story, the Junior Deputy was in the voiceless video game protagonist tradition of Samus, Link, and Gordon Freeman. They also lacked their own name, however, and they were simply referred to by their rank, or some version of "Rookie," for most of the story.
Similarly, the player character in Far Cry New Dawn had no voice or name either, and was known simply as the "Security Captain" in-game. Both Far Cry 5 and New Dawn's player characters also had customizable appearances and genders. This was likely partially behind the decision to avoid giving them a prescribed name or voice like the far more set-in-stone characters from earlier games in the series.
The Return Of The Voiced Protagonist
It has been established that players will be able to choose Dani Rojas' gender, but there's an interesting caveat to the character's customization. Unlike Far Cry 5 and New Dawn, players will not be able to customize Dani's appearance. Their name will also always be Dani Rojas, regardless of gender, and two voice actors are attached to Far Cry 6's cast to play the male and female versions of the character. Nisa Gunduz will be playing the female version of Dani, while the male version will be played by Sean Rey.
This makes it likely Dani will be far more personally integrated into the story than the past two protagonists. The voiceless, nameless protagonists of the last two games lacked the relationship depth and character development seen in Jason Brody in Far Cry 3 and Ajay Ghale in Far Cry 4.
Exactly what Dani's role in the story will be, however, remains unclear. It is known that they will be a part of a revolution which is trying to topple Anton Castillo's regime, and that the revolution "remains divided and without unified leadership" according to Far Cry 6's website. However, their personal reasons for getting involved and any direct connections to the other characters remain less clear than Ajay or Jason's for now.
Nonetheless, many Far Cry fans will be happy to note the likely return of a voiced and more involved protagonist to the Far Cry series. Fans may even find that one version of the characters' voice ends up becoming the preferred performance. The Far Cry games have long been driven by their strong central villainous performances, but the importance of the protagonist's characterization cannot be understated, and could key to revitalizing the series in Far Cry 6.
Far Cry 6Â is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
